That Time Andy Cohen Asked Anderson Cooper Out (and About His Mom)

Anderson Cooper, left, and Andy Cohen at Cafe Cluny in the West Village. They will host CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage this year.CreditAndrew White for The New York Times

By Isaac Oliver

Dec. 27, 2017

It’s hard to be out with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Neither blends in. They are hugely recognizable, both appearing on television five nights a week, and when they’re spotted together, people stop in their tracks. Throughout a recent lunch at Cafe Cluny, they were approached by fans of “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,” his talk show on Bravo; the actress Julianne Moore; and a woman thanking Mr. Cooper for a hurricane relief segment on “Anderson Cooper 360,” his CNN show.

“I paid her to do that,” Mr. Cooper said. “We’ve produced this entire afternoon.”

In their less famous days, a high school friend of Mr. Cooper’s tried to set them up on a blind date. It was 1995, and Mr. Cooper had recently moved from Los Angeles back to New York for a job at ABC News, and Mr. Cohen was a producer at “CBS This Morning.” The date never happened, but a friendship eventually did.

Their bond has now become a commodity. Their “AC2” tour, in which they talk about whatever they like before a paying audience, continues at the Beacon Theater in New York on Jan. 26 and 27. And on New Year’s Eve, Mr. Cohen will join Mr. Cooper to host CNN’s telecast from Times Square — replacing the comedian Kathy Griffin, who was fired in May after posing for a photograph while holding a Donald Trump mask bloodied with ketchup.

“I hope she gets back to doing what she does best,” Mr. Cooper said. “We wish her the best.”

Over tea with milk for Mr. Cohen, 49, and scrambled eggs with toast for Mr. Cooper, 50, the pair discussed first impressions, dancing at the Roxy nightclub, lost luggage and Panda Express.

These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

ANDERSON COOPER We had a phone call to set up the date. I was in my office at ABC News.

ANDY COHEN I remember being home when I made the call, on Horatio Street. I was excited.

COOPER Within 45 seconds, he said, “Your mom is Gloria Vanderbilt.”

COHEN So bad. I wanted to date the Vanderbilt boy.

COOPER I imagined him on a Bluetooth headset, walking around, gesticulating a lot.

COHEN By the way, you weren’t exactly Mr. Personality on that call, either.

COOPER No, I wasn’t. I was very depressed. It was a bleak time. I was trying to figure out my way at ABC. I started as a one-man band; a guy I worked with when I was a fact-checker made a fake press pass for me, and I borrowed a camera and started going to wars. I’d been working at Channel One for three years. I’d never worked at a network. I didn’t know what I was doing. We never had the date.

COHEN We started running into each other at the Roxy. He would be dancing around.

COOPER I wouldn’t be dancing around. I was like, that’s the guy who said, “your mom is Gloria Vanderbilt.”

COHEN We both knew Barry Diller, and we wound up in this group that would travel together, him and his friends.

COHEN Then we would have dinner occasionally, or be at the same party. We went to Croatia in 2005. I was at Bravo then.

COOPER I started working later at night, so our chances for hanging out were limited.

COHEN Our shows are so different, but we have commonalities because we’re both on every night. I worked in news —— why are you laughing? Excuse me, I worked at CBS News for 10 years.

COOPER You absolutely did, but the advice you would give me was not —— I was in Croatia with him when I got the call about Hurricane Katrina. I turned to Andy and said, “I gotta go,” and, Andy, as a newsman, what was it you said?

COHEN I said: “This is ridiculous. They just want you outside at some rainstorm so they can get ratings.”

COOPER Needless to say, I was on the next flight out. But one of the things I don’t think Andy has gotten enough credit for is he’s been an openly gay man in this industry from the very beginning. I was out at work ——

COHEN He was out to everybody. Everyone at CNN knew your partner.

COOPER And I was out at the Roxy.

COHEN Yeah, with your flaming-white hair, like Katniss Everdeen.

COOPER It was more about not discussing it publicly. But I told you I was going to be making a statement.

COHEN He never asked me for advice, but we did talk about it.

COOPER I don’t think there’s anything I’ve not discussed with him. It’s nice to have someone who pokes fun at you. If I’m in a dangerous place, he’ll text me something funny.

COHEN I do get worried when he’s like, “I’m on my way to Egypt.” I’m like: “Are you kidding me? When are you coming home?” You’re not eating your eggs. Do you not like them?

Image

Mr. Cohen last year on his Bravo show, “Watch What Happens Live,” with Bethenny Frankel, a guest from “The Real Housewives of New York City.”CreditMichael Nagle for The New York Times

COOPER No, I like them.

COHEN Are you going to eat your toast?

COOPER I’m going to nibble.

COHEN Do you want some jelly?

COOPER No.

COHEN He is a very fussy eater. We were in the Dallas airport two weeks ago. Tell what you were eating for breakfast.

COOPER Panda Express.

COHEN He was eating orange chicken at 9 a.m. It was so gross.

COOPER We took a trip to Brazil five years ago. It was me; my partner, Benjamin [Maisani]; a friend of ours; and Andy. I brought them to Trancoso, this town I’d always heard about. I booked the hotels, I booked the flights — the one thing I asked Andy to do was check the bags in.

COHEN I lost Anderson’s luggage. It was terrible.

COOPER That was the first time I’ve ever gotten angry at Andy. And when I get angry, I get silent.

COHEN Prickly ice-cold monster. You have to navigate his moods. I know exactly when to stop talking to him.

COOPER We’re both sensitive in reading other people’s emotions. I know instantly when he’s lost interest in a conversation on the phone. We work all the —— see, he’s checking ——

COHEN I’m rolling my sleeve up.

COOPER I think he was secretly about to check his watch.

COHEN No, I wasn’t. Look, you know people when you travel with them. It’s intimate.

COOPER When his second book came out, he asked me to do an interview with him at the 92nd Street Y. My agent was in the crowd, and she was like, “You guys should take this on the road.”

COHEN We looked at each other, and, immediately, were like, “Oh, my God, we can travel the country together.”

COOPER We’ve done 30-something shows.

COHEN New Year’s will be a good continuation. It’s going to be really fun. Amy Sedaris is coming by. We’re going to play games.

COOPER We want people to feel like they’re hanging out with us for a night.

COHEN I’m going to bring alcohol.

COOPER I would expect nothing less.

COHEN Just so you know.

COOPER I’d rather not know the details.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Failed Blind Date Started It All. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe